The present variety of peach tree, denominated varietally as "Snow Diamond", was discovered by us in 1981 in a cultivated area of an orchard owned at that time by Mitchell Langford and Rose Marie Langford and located at 17047 E. Dinuba Avenue, Reedley, Calif., in the County of Fresno located in the San Joaquin Valley. It resulted as a voluntary seedling that sprouted near a Babcock (unpatented) peach tree adjacent to a commercial nectarine planting of May Grand (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 2,794). Subsequent to the discovery of the present variety of peach tree, we asexually reproduced it by budding and grafting, and such reproduction of plant and fruit characteristics were true to the original plant in all respects.
The present variety most nearly resembles the Babcock (unpatented) peach variety in appearance by producing whiteflesh freestone fruit with excellent flavor and large size, but is distinguished therefrom and an improvement thereon by bearing fruit that harvests approximately two weeks later, has more red skin color, has a smaller stone, and most importantly has much firmer flesh. This high degree of firmness distinguishes the present variety as a commercial long distant shipping whiteflesh peach, which has not heretofore been sufficiently available in supermarkets in the United States.
The differences between the present variety and the May Grand (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 2,794) nectarine are very pronounced, as the present variety is a peach instead of a nectarine, has white flesh instead of yellow flesh, and ripens approximately five weeks later. It is virtually certain that the seed parent of the present variety was the Babcock peach, due to the proximity of the original seedling and its similarity in fruit characteristics. The pollen parent is unknown and its determination would be speculative.